Handling Stolen Goods

Question 1

What is handling stolen goods?

Answer 1

Theft Act 1968, s22
(1) A person handles stolen goods if (otherwise than in the course of the stealing) knowing or believing them to be stolen goods he dishonestly receives the goods, or dishonestly undertakes or assists in their retention, removal, disposal or realisation by or for the benefit of another person, or if he arranges to do so

Question 2

What is the sentence for handling stolen goods?

Answer 2

Triable either way
14 years’ imprisonment on indictment

Question 3

What are the 2 forms of handling?

Answer 3

1. Where the offender receives or arranges to receive stolen goods- he is acting for his own benefit
2. Where the offender assists another or acts for the benefit of another

Question 4

Can handling be committed if the goods aren’t stolen?

Answer 4

Handling can only be committed otherwise than in the course of stealing. The ‘stealing’ referred to is the time whereby the original goods became ‘stolen’ in the first place.
If ‘goods’ are not ‘stolen goods’, there is no handling. Whether they are so stolen is a question of fact for a jury or magistrate(s)

Question 5

Can the thief be guilty of handling stolen goods?

Answer 5

NO! A thief is not a handler, they are a thief so they can never be guilty of handling stolen goods.

Question 6

What offence will be considered instead of handling if the goods are yet to be stolen? Case?

Answer 6

If the goods have yet to be stolen, s. 22 would not apply and the offence of conspiracy should be considered (R v Park (1988))

Question 7

What are the 5 different ways the offence can be committed?

Answer 7

1. Knowing or believing the goods to be stolen, he dishonestly receives or arranges to receive goods- intends the stolen goods will end up in his possession or under his control (dirty hands)
   2-5. Dishonestly undertake or assist or arrange to take part in:
   (a) the retention
   (b) the removal
   (c) the disposal
   (d) the realisation of the goods
   by or for the benefit of another

Question 8

What is the meaning of goods?

Answer 8

Theft Act 1968, s34(2)(b)
‘Goods’, except insofar as the context otherwise requires, includes money and every other description of property except land, and includes things severed from the land by stealing
- A thing in action is ‘goods’ because it falls within every other description of property

Question 9

Must the stealing be carried out in England and Wales?

Answer 9

Theft Act 1968, s24
(1) Applies whether the stealing occurred in England or Wales or elsewhere, and whether it occurred before or after the commencement of this Act, provided that the stealing amounted to an offence where and at the time when the goods were stolen
This means property can be stolen anywhere, as long as the theft amounted to an offence where committed

Question 10

What is the meaning of stolen goods?

Answer 10

Theft Act 1968, s24
(2) Stolen goods include, in addition to the goods originally stolen and parts of them (whether in their original state or not),—
(a) any goods which directly or indirectly represent or have at any time represented the stolen goods in the hands of the thief as being the proceeds of any disposal or realisation of the whole or part of the goods stolen or of goods representing the stolen goods; and
(b) any other goods which directly or indirectly represent or have at any time represented the stolen goods in the hands of a handler of the stolen goods or any part of them as being the proceeds of any disposal or realisation of the whole or part of the stolen goods handled by him or of goods so representing them

Question 11

When do goods cease to be stolen?

Answer 11

Theft Act 1968, s24(3)
No goods shall be regarded as having continued to be stolen goods after they have been restored to the person from whom they were stolen or to other lawful possession or custody, or after that person and any other person claiming through him have otherwise ceased as regards those goods to have any right to restitution in respect of the theft

Question 12

Are the proceeds of stolen property classed as ‘stolen goods’?

Answer 12

When stolen goods are sold on or otherwise realised, the monetary proceeds or any new goods bought with those proceeds (the buyer knowing or believing it to come from stolen goods) are to be treated just like the goods themselves!!

Question 13

What happens when police officers recover the stolen property?

Answer 13

Houghton v Smith [1975]- When police officers recover stolen property then wait for it to be collected by a handler, D can be dealt with in a variety of ways under the Criminal Attempts Act 1981 and common law rulings of ‘impossibility’:
- Theft—collecting the property will be an ‘appropriation’.
- Handling—an arrangement to come and collect stolen goods will probably have been made while they were still ‘stolen’.
- Criminal attempt—the person collecting the goods has gone beyond merely preparing to handle them

Question 14

What is the AR for handling?

Answer 14

Offence can be divided into 2 parts:
- Receiving/arranging to receive stolen goods (D acts for his own benefit)
- Assisting/acting for the benefit of another person (D assists another or benefits another)

Question 15

What does receiving mean?

Answer 15

This form of handling is committed at the point the ‘stolen goods’ are received. However, receiving does not require the physical reception of goods and can extend to exercising control over them. Things in action, such as bank credits from a stolen cheque, can be ‘received’
‘Arranging to receive’ does not go as far as an attempt but can still be considered handling

Question 16

What does assisting/acting for another’s benefit mean? Case?

Answer 16

Disposing of the stolen goods or assisting in their disposal or realisation usually involves physically moving them or converting them into a different form (R v Forsyth [1997])

Question 17

What if the co-accused on the same charge is the only person to benefit from the handling? Case?

Answer 17

If the only ‘other’ person to benefit is a co-accused on the same charge, the offence will not be made out (R v Gingell [2000])

Question 18

What if the only person ‘benefitting’ from D’s action is D? Case?

Answer 18

If the only person ‘benefiting’ from the defendant’s actions is the defendant, this element of the offence will not be made out (R v Bloxham [1983])
Appellant bough and part-paid for a car which he subsequently discovered was stolen. He sold the car at a slight loss and was convicted of handling in respect of this sale, the allegation being that he ‘realised’ the car for the benefit of the buyer. HOL reversed the decision holding the act was aimed at those who knowingly received from the thief or facilitated the disposal of stolen goods. A purchaser of goods purchased in good faith who sells the goods after discovering they have been stolen does not come within the ambit of the section, even if the transaction could be described as a disposal or realisation for the benefit of the person to whom they sell it

Question 19

What is the MR for handling? Case?

Answer 19

D must know or believe the goods to be stolen AND handle the goods dishonestly
Turning a blind eye to the facts ‘can be capable, depending on the circumstances, of providing evidence going to prove knowledge or belief’ (Martin Edward Pace & Simon Peter Rogers v R [2014])

Question 20

Is suspicion enough for ‘knowing or believing’? Case?

Answer 20

Suspicion that the goods are stolen will not be enough (R v Griffiths (1974))

Question 21

What proof can be used as evidence to support that the goods were stolen?

Answer 21

s27 Theft Act 1968
Section 27(4) allows for evidence to be admitted proving that goods ‘in the course of transmission’ have been stolen. They allow for a statutory declaration by the person dispatching or receiving goods or postal packets as to when and where they were dispatched and when or if they arrived and, in each case, their state or condition (e.g. if they had been opened or interfered with). The declaration will only be admissible in circumstances where an oral statement would have been admissible and if a copy has been served on the defendant at least seven days before the hearing and he/she has not, within three days of the hearing, served written notice on the prosecutor requiring the attendance of the person making the declaration

Question 22

How is dishonestly determined?

Answer 22

Dishonesty will be determined as per the decision in Barlow Clowes and Royal Brunei Airlines (Dishonesty in theft)
Jury will have to ascertain the actual state of the individual’s knowledge or belief as to the facts (this does not have to be a reasonable belief, just genuine) Once his actual state of mind as to knowledge or belief is established, the question of whether his conduct had been honest or dishonest is to be determined by the jury by applying the (objective) standards of ordinary decent people. There is no requirement that D had to appreciate that what he/she had done was, by those standards, dishonest

Question 23

Can this include misleading police? Case?

Answer 23

Assisting or acting for the benefit of another can be committed by misleading police officers during a search (R v Kanwar [1982])

Question 24

What is the power to search for stolen goods under Theft Act 1968, s26?

Answer 24

s26 provides a general power to search for and seize stolen goods, whether identified in the search warrant or not, and magistrates are entitled to act on material provided by the police that gives rise to a reasonable belief that stolen goods will be found (R Cruickshank Ltd v Chief Constable of Kent Constabulary [2002])
A person who is authorised to search premises for stolen goods can enter and search the premises accordingly and seize any goods he believes to be stolen goods

Question 25

What does s27 Theft Act 1968 with regards to the admissibility of previous misconduct?

Answer 25

s27 allows for the admissibility of previous misconduct:
(3) Where a person is being proceeded against for handling stolen goods (but not for any offence other than handling stolen goods), then at any stage of the proceedings, if evidence has been given of his having or arranging to have in his possession the goods the subject of the charge, or of his undertaking or assisting in, or arranging to undertake or assist in, their retention, removal, disposal or realisation, the following evidence shall be admissible for the purpose of proving that he knew or believed the goods to be stolen goods—
(a) evidence that he has had in his possession, or has undertaken or assisted in the R, R, D or R of, stolen goods from any theft taking place not earlier than 12 months before the offence charged
(b) (provided that seven days’ notice in writing has been given to him of the intention to prove the conviction) evidence that he has within the five years preceding the date of the offence charged been convicted of theft or of handling stolen goods